Maurice Denis (1870–1943)
Maurice Denis, a painter and critic, founded the Nabis in 1888 and published the group’s manifesto in the magazine Art et critique. Denis mostly photographed his wife and their seven children, sometimes experimenting with extreme close-ups. He left behind 2,689 prints and 1,250 negatives. He had his negatives developed professionally; his wife did the printing and stored the images in albums.
Tag Archives: painters
Meet Snapshot: Edouard Vuillard
Edouard Vuillard (1868–1940)
Painter and printmaker Edouard Vuillard, best known for his intimate interiors, started taking pictures with a Kodak around 1895. He had the film developed professionally, but often did the printing himself or entrusted it to his mother. Almost 2,000 snapshots—only a small percentage of which he made as studies for paintings—remain in the family archive, a testament to the artist’s lifelong fascination with the medium.
Meet Snapshot: Pierre Bonnard
Over the next few days, we’ll introduce you to the artists featured in Snapshot: Painters and Photography, Bonnard to Vuillard, on view at the Phillips February 4 through May 6.
Pierre Bonnard (1867–1947)
Painter and printmaker Pierre Bonnard is acclaimed for his intensely expressive use of color. He began using a camera late in the decade but lost interest in photography a few years later. Bonnard primarily photographed his family and friends at home or during summers in the countryside. He used many of his photographs of his mistress outdoors in the nude as studies for two large illustrated book commissions. Approximately 200 of his photographs have survived.